Internal combustion engine



.NUWZG, 1940. E, FOSTER 2,223,100

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Fil ed April 1, 1938 10 Sheets-Sheet 1 jueIZfiJ, Edwin NOV. 26, 1940. FOSTER 2,223,100

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed April 1/1938 l0 Sheets-Sheet 2 &

N ,Izventor:

EaZw in E. FZs'Zer jg W715i? 'W 6.

Nov. 26, 1940@ E. E. FOSTER 2223, 11

v INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE I Filed April 1, 1938 1o Sheets -Sheet s fivelzion in/11w 5 ICBJZ'ZP Nav. 26, 1940. E. E. FOSTER 2,223,100

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed April 1, 1938 10 Shets-Sheet 4 1 ME l H I f L "F Z E I fcventor; 1. 9 02 vvdvz E. 562

NW. 26, 1940. E F R 2,223,100

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed April 1, 1938 10 Sheets-Sheet 5 ,iizveiziol:

NOV. 26, 1940. FOSTER 2,223,100

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed April 1, 1938 10 Sheets-Sheet 6 ,fiwelztor;

cZvv7z E. Fests/f Nov. 26, 1940. E. E. FOSTER 2-Z23,l00

4 INTERNAL comsus'riou ENGINE Filed April 1, 1938 10 Sheets-Sheet 7 NOV. 26, 1940. Q FOSTER 7 2,223,100

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed April 1, 1938 '10 Sheets-Sheet 8 Edwin 5 Easter NOV. 26, 1940. FOSTER 2,223,100

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed April 1, 1938 10 Sheets-Sheet 9 jivelztor; ECZWLW Ester Nov. 26, 1940.

E. E. FOSTER,

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed April 1, 1938 l0 Sheets-Sheet l0 I: a to; W437 .5. Foder I 51 W I Patented Nov. 26,

UNITED "STATES- rivrnnmr. combustion Enema Edwin E. mm, Austin, Tex. Application April 1, 1938, Serial No. 199,520

The present invention relates to an internal combustion engine which is not only capable of being built as a radial type but also in opposite alignmentrelative to the pistons and cylinders and suitable for both two and four cycle operation. It is an object of this invention to provide a motor which is very compact and extremely powerful; in proportion to'its weight. A further 'object is" to eliminate all side thrust between the piston and the cylinder walls. Still further objects include the provision of the two-cycle operation in order to increase the number of power strokesper revolution of the crank shaft with a minimum weight. The radial design eliminates certain bearings and also entirely eliminates all whip action on the connecting rods.

The drawings illustrate a number of different forms of a radial engine of both the two and four cycle type but the invention is of course readily adaptable to an arrangement where the cylinders are in'line or opposed. Furthermore, certain arrangements canfreadily be used in the compressor and pump fields such as 2-stage compression by utilizing both sides of the piston.

In the drawings; Figure 1 is a front view of a two-cycle engine with certain parts in section, V Fig. 2 is an axial section through the crank case, I

1 Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view through the crank case and the eccentrics of another form of the invention,

Fig. 4 is a side view partly in section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3, 4 Fig. 5 is a front view of the engine showing the eccentrics and piston rods in a certain position,

Fig. 6 is a view similar .to Fig. 5 showing the eccentrics and piston rods in a-different position, 40 Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a counterweight and its gear'of the engine ofFigs. 1 and 2,

Fig. 8 is' a perspective view of the counter- 1 weight of Fig. 4,

Fig. 9 is. a longitudinal further modified motor,

sectional view of a Fig. 10 is an end view of the motor of Fig. 9, Fig. 11 is a longitudinal sectional view of anof still aneight cylinders I (Fig. 1) on each of which is provided a plurality of cooling fins 2 and a spark plug 3. A piston 4 reciprocates in each cylinder and a piston rod 5 secured to the piston also reciprocates without any swinging motion of any kind. A stufling box 6 is provided for each piston rod in order to tightly seal each cylinder from the crank case chamber 1 as confined by the crank casing 8, Each cylinder I also has an inlet port 9, a compression chamber II), a communicating channel II, an explosion chamber I2 and an exhaust port I3. I

The crank shaft I4 is off center. as seen in Fig. l and a plurality of eccentrics I5 are mounted thereon by means of a sleeve I6. There is a cluster of four eccentrics I5 and these rotate with the sleeve I6 to the latter of which a gear IT is secured at each end. These four eccentrics I5 are spaced'90 degrees apart, and the gears ll are mounted on roller bearings I8 upon the single -throw of the crank shaft I4. The amount of throw in the crank shaft I4--that is the radial distance between the center of the crank shaft and the center of the counter shaft-is only one fourth the stroke of the piston because the throw of the eccentric adds to the throw of the counter shaft to make up one-half of the stroke. Therefore it will be seen that the throw of the eccentric ,must be equal to the throw of the crank shaft. Each gear I1 meshes with an internal gear I9 which are keyed directly to the crank case hous- }ng 8. The pitch diameter of each internal gear I! and the number of teeth are exactly double that of its small gear H. The object in using two sets of gears-one at each end of the cluster of eccentrics I5is to prevent any tendency to roll due to the flexibility of the crank shaft I4. Due to the fact that the small gears I1 make two complete revolutions for each revolution of the crank shaft I4, the center of each eccentric I5 will travel back and forth in a perfect straight line with a stroke equal to the pitch diameter of the internal gear I9. Two counterweights 20 are used to balance the eccentrics I5. I

A counter shaft 2| mounted in roller bearings 22 is secured to the counter weight 20, Fig. 2 and this is the driven shaft from the crank shaft I4. A rather long bearing 22 is preferably provided which acts as a support for a driven member such as a propeller which is suitably mounted on the end 23.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 each pair of opposed piston -rodsare secured to a ring 24 which surrounds the periphery of its eccentric I5.

In Fig. 1 the piston in cylinder I is at the end position all its ports are closed by the piston-- thereby compressing the fuel mixture. behind the piston. In cylinder VII the piston has traveled one-half of its power stroke, and the gas mixture below the piston is further compressed. In. cylinder VI the piston has completed three-fourths 1 of its power stroke. In cylinder V which is shown more in detail the piston 4 has fully completed its power stroke, and the exhaust port 26 is open,

and the by-pass port II is also open so that the compressed gas mixture rushes from behind the piston, from chamber I0, through the by-pass. II and is deflected upward by the baffle plate 25, filling the cylinder with new fuel and forcing out the exhaust into manifold l3. In'cylinder II the piston has started upward on its compression stroke, and the ports ll, 26, and 9 are closed. In cylinder IV the piston is one-half way up of its compression stroke, and a vacuum is being formed below it. In cylinder 11 the piston is threefourths way up of its compression stroke having formed a large vacuum behind the piston so that when the port 9 is open the gas from the intake manifold will rush in.

Each internal gear I9 is pressed into the crank casing or housing 8 and is secured in place by keys 21. The number of teeth on the internal gear I!) should be even rather than odd such as 32 for instance, since the number of teeth ,on the iriall gear II should be one half that number or A roller bearing 28isf provided between the shaft end 29 and the end plate or cover 30, which latter may be held in place by bolts. 3|. The other end of the crank case 8, is provided with bearings 22 which have rollers mounted at an angle to take care of the end thrust of the propeller. The roller bearings I8 on the counter shaft 14 support the smallgears l1 and the eccentrics l5.

Fig. 1 shows a metallic packing 32 which is held ht by the collar 33 and the coil spring 54. This metallic packing is for each piston rod and in this manner the compression chambers III will be tight against leakage. Cylinders I and V.are,.

in the radial-plane of the center line of eccentric 35, cylinders II and VI eccentric 35, cylinders III and VIII, eccentric 31, and cylinders IV and VII are in the same radial plane of eccentric 38. In the form of invention of Figs. 3 to6 and 8 the engine is shown somewhat diagrammatically but the operation is similar-to the form just described. The crank shaft 39 (Fig. 3) is provided with a sleeve 40 on which are rigidly secured the eccentrics 4| and the small gears 82. Each eccentric 4| is provided with a ring 43 and two piston rods .44 similar to Figs. 1 and 2. The main driven shaft 45 is provided on each side with an internal gear 45' secured to the casing and which likewise has tW'ice the number of teeth as gears 52. Each shaft 45 has a counter weight-t1 secured thereto.' As clearly seen in the two-diiferent positions of Figs. 5 and 6, the pistonrods 44 follow only a reciprocating motion without any side thrust.

In the form of invention illustrated in Figs. 9

and 10 the crank shaft is a three piececrank shaft and the cylinders are provided in twin rows for a four-cycle-operation so that an explosion in a cylinder will'take place for each one-eighth revolution of the crank shaft. In the forms of invention of Figs. 1 to 3' a two-cyclee i ht cylin- 5 der engine is disclosed and naturally in such enbearings of the well known Timken type are used in order to carry both radial, and end 15 thrusts. The recesses 53 are oif-set in the crank shaft heads opposite the CO'UIItGl'rWBiEhtS 50 and the amount of this off-set is one-fourth the stroke of the piston. The roller bearings ,54 are fitted into the recesses 53. The third part of the 0 crank shaft is mounted between these bearings 54 and consists of a straight shaft 55 which has .eight eccentrics 56 thereon made integral there-.

with, Fig. 10. Each eccentric 55 is provided with a ring 51 to which is secured two piston rods 58 25 and each eccentric is thus utilized as the crank throw for two opposed cylinders 59. The eight eccentrics are placed two in each quarter. A

small bore 50 is, bored straight through the shaft 55 and has small artery holes SI for purposes of 30 forced feed lubrication of the bearings.

Internal gears 52 are keyed tothe crank shaft housing 63 and the pitch diameter of each internal gear is in this case 4 inches-which is the length of the piston stroke. Gears 64gare keyed 35 to the shaft 55 and each meshes with its internal gear 62. The pitch diameter of each small gear 54 is exactly one-half the pitch diameter of the internal gears 52. Also each small gear 64 has exactly one-half as many teeth, so that with each 40 1 revolution of the main crank shaft 48, 52 the small gears 64 meshing witlTthe internal gears 62 will cause the shaft 55 carrying the eccentrics 55 to revolve two complete revolutions. Th center of each eccentric will move back and forth in '45 a perfectly straight line-thus relieving the cylinder walls from all side thrust.

The two small gears 54 arekeyed directly to the" shaft 55 and are in mesh with the internal gears 52 which are keyed to the housing 53-.- 50 therefore both ends and 52 of the main crank shaft are tied or secured together, and anytendency of either end to lag behind causes a plain twist in the shaft 55.- Therefoia if the shaft 55 and the crank case 63 are each made rigid, there 55 can be no lag in e'itherend of the main shaft. As the power impulses are imparted from the pistons to the eccentrics 56 causing the shaft 55 to revolve the small gears 64 within the internal gear 52, both ends 48,52 of the main crank shaft 60 are forced to revolve. If all the load is taken from end 48, then the two pairs of gears at the, oppositeends of. shaft 55 will have loads in opposite directions. In other words the gears 62 and 54 at the left end of Fig. 9 will react against 65 the tendency of the shaft 52 to lag. A further advantage-of the three piece crank shaft is that itis much stronger than the sleeve construction of Fig. 3 and also the problem of assembly is made easierr In the motor bf Figs. 11 and 12 external gears instead of internal gears are utilized. .The central gear 55' is stationary, and the coimter shaft gear 55 and the idle gear 51 ride or move with the crank-shaft head 58. The idle gear 5i is-w'f mounted on ball-bearings 69 upon the stud I6 which is fixed to the crank-shaft head 68. The idle gear 61 is utilized to change the direction of rotation of the counter shaft gear 66 and may be of any convenient size. The counter-shaft gear 66 must have exactly one-half the pitch diameter of the stationary gear 65. The distance between gears 65 and 66 is not restricted to any fixed ratio to the size of the gears as in the case in the.

Figs. 11 and 12,. the QDDOSed type of cylinder,

arrangement 13 makes an ideal flat motor as the crank-case I4 is very compact in spite of the unusually. long piston stroke. In the conventional motor the. ratio of the stroke to the bore'is limited due to the fact that the connect-.

ing rod enters at an angle. Usually the limit is about 3 to 5 for the bore and stroke respec tively. In the motor of Figs. 11 and 12 the ratio is 2 to 6 and could be increased or decreased according to the particular ratio which may prove to be the ideal to utilize the full power of the explosion.' Especially in the pump and compressor fields, it would be desirable to have a small bore and a long stroke and this would accomplish the purpose of the two stage compresser now commonly used.

15 denotes the counter-weights. The gear 65 m is integral with the sleeve 16 which is keyed to the housing 11. The drive shaft 18 is mounted in the sleeve 16 by means of Timken bearings 19. The amount of throw of the countershaft must be equal to the distance between the centers of gears 65 and 66.

Figs. 13 and 14 illustrate a four cylinder, four cycle, opposed type of motor in which internal gears are used to obtain straight line motion.

There is also provided a three piece crank shaft having all four connecting rods placed and travelling on a single throw of the countershaft. The engine preferably has a five inch stroke and a three inch bore. In this construction the internal gear 82 is keyed to the countershaft housing 83 and meshes with the gear 84. The countershaft head 85 carries the outside race of the ball bearing 86, and the main shaft 81 of the countershaft fits into the inside race of the hearing 86. The small gear 84 is keyed to the countershaft 81. The sleeve bearing 88 has the four connecting rods 9| fixed thereto and this sleeve rides on the throw 88 of thecountershaft 81. As will be seen from Fig. 13 this construction places the bearing 86 between the gear 84 and the countershaft throw 88 so that the distance between the two bearings 86 on the countershaft 8'! can be as short as possible. The counterweight 96 counterbalances the weight of the countershaft and both ends of the motor are identical; The Timken bearings 92 take care of both radial and end thrust of the countershaft heads.

.I claim as my invention:

1. A mechanical movement comprising a reciprocable rod, a crank shaft, an eccentricmounted on said shaft, a ring for securing the rod on the eccentric with relative motion between said means and the eccentric, said ring surrounding cular casing, a crank shaft mounted'in the easing, a plurality of rods radially arranged in the casing in opposite pairs and adapted to reciprocate in the casing, an eccentric for each pair of rods and having a ring to permit rotation thereof, said ring surrounding the peripheral surface of the eccentric, and means in the casing and mounted on "the crankshaft whereby the rods exert only forces in the direction of their straight line reciprocation and the rods are free of all side thrust, said means including an internal gear and an external gear intermeshing with each other, and a counterweight secured to the internal gear and partly surrounding the external gear.

3. A mechanical movement according to claim 2, in which the crank shaft is in three sections having at each end of the intermediate section a connecting element. F

EDWIN E. FOSTER. 

